as best they could in the humble homes of the poor , and often hiding away even in dens and caves .
Notwithstanding the rage of persecution , a calm , devout , earnest , patient protest against the prevailing corruption of religious faith continued for centuries to be uttered . The Christians of that early time had only a partial knowledge of the truth , but they had learned to love and obey God ' s word , and they patiently suffered for its sake . Like the disciples in apostolic days , many sacrificed their worldly possessions for the cause of Christ . Those who were permitted to dwell in their homes gladly sheltered their banished brethren , and when they too were driven forth they cheerfully accepted the lot of the outcast . Thousands , it is true , terrified by the fury of their persecutors , purchased their freedom at the sacrifice of their faith , and went out of their prisons , clothed in penitents ' robes , to publish their recantation . But the number was not small--and among them were men of noble birth as well as the humble and lowly--who bore fearless testimony to the truth in dungeon cells , in " Lollard towers ," and in the midst of torture and flame , rejoicing that they were counted worthy to know " the fellowship of His sufferings ."
The papists had failed to work their will with Wycliffe during his life , and their hatred could not be satisfied while his body rested quietly in the grave . By the decree of the Council of Constance , more than forty years after his death his bones were exhumed and publicly burned , and the ashes were thrown into a neighboring brook . " This brook ," says an old writer , " hath conveyed his ashes into Avon , Avon into Severn , Severn into the narrow seas , they into the main ocean . And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine , which now is dispersed all the world over ." -- T . Fuller , Church History of Britain , b . 4 , sec . 2 , par . 54 . Little did his enemies realize the significance of their malicious act . It was through the writings of Wycliffe that John Huss , of Bohemia , was led to renounce many of the errors of Romanism and to enter upon the work of reform . Thus in these two countries , so widely separated , the seed of truth was sown . From Bohemia the work extended to other lands . The minds of men were directed to the long-forgotten word of God . A divine hand was preparing the way for the Great Reformation .
58